Mine destroyer



Dec.7,1948. J, s H 5 2,455,354

' MINE DESTROYER Filed Aug. 5, 1945 zsheets-she't 1 es L. 13215071Patented Dec. 7, 1948 UNITED Q FFICE MINE DESTROYER James L; Bisch,Unitedtstates Army fipplication Augusfi-g, marshal No.2608g8291 (Grantedunder'- tlie act of March 3', 1'88'3-as:1

3 Glaimsl Theinvention described" herein may; bem'anu factured and; used1153? or for the Government for" governmental." purposes,. without"payment to me of: any. royalty thereon.

'II'iisihvention relates to mine destroyers: more particularly it is;directed to torpedoes for. explbding, anti-personnel or tantirvehicnlar.mm'e's' used'l by an. enemy in retarding the advance? of soldiersandmihtary, materiel over' certain terrain- (the of the. obj acts of theinvention" is' to. pro"- vide atorpedo inthe form ofa strip ofexplosivecarryingmaterial.adaptedito' be coiled into" a" roll '1 and to. beunrolled' for layinga well} distributed" layer; of high. explosives overa surface of ground. for destroyingenemy, mines.

Another. object of the invention in is. to provide a torpedo in the formoflastrip offabriehavingjspaced longitudinally and" transverselyextending-strand's. ofipri'macordfsewn thereto or woven. therein andadaptedtov be launched over amine fi'el'deither By hand or pneumaticallyfor.destroy-' ingthe'same.

Another object ofthe. invention .is to provide? a. to'rpedbr mending astrip of" flexible. material havinglongitudinal and transverse strandsof explosive elements. andlpocletsithereon and. car.- tridges. mounted;in said; pockets for. destroying mines buried'rintherground by; anenemy"I Another object of the invention is to providea torpedn. including aflexible. strip; of explosive carryingmat'erial havingrflexibl'eltubesassociated; therewith, wherebytheflexible. explosivestripiand; tubesmay! be coilediintol a .roll and meanscon nectedtoinflatesaidtubesforiunrollingr the strip,-

of; explosive carrying" material. over a mine field,

forvdetonatingwthesamei i Another obj ect of; the-invention is toprovide a-torpedo in i the form of a flexible :net of; explosivematerial adapted; to: be coiled into: a: roll; and

means adaptedto unrollr thee. samezforrlaunchin'g's theanet over a minei'field;

Briefly, stated;,the?inventi'onv comprises" an ex plosive carryihg stripof afabric'; sueha as' carpet;

2 therealong: with cartridges or othermilitary'ex plosives mounted inthe pockets:

Preierably tl'ie mine -destroying tbrpedtrmay 11' erremy'hasiundertak'en demolition; Iii launching the armed carpet'orrexplo'siver met:- by "hand; long ropes are: attached toiaashaft onWhiChIthG' armed carpet on explosive-netisrrolled by menwhcxhave":

detoured the-mineclisurfaceoi the-road: Thus by' we pulling; or"hauling; cm the: ropes,.. the torpedo carpettor-netmay; be unrolledsover the mined area. The armed: carpet ohexp-losivenet may then .bedetonated-with small. arms fire-or other" standard detonating means andthe: detonating:

26* Wave producedby the explosion; in turn,- detonates minesconcealedin-theearth beneath the carpet.

In order, to launchthe. armed carpetroll or explosive. met overenemymine fields bypneumatic means; longitudinally extending flexiblein-- fiatable tubes. are employed therewith. These tubes areclos'edatoneoftheir ends andIconnectedt attheirf. other ends to any suitable sourceof air? under pressure .orother gas su pply such asa pneumaticblbwer. orexhaust pipe from a m-engine. Thetubes are WrappedTup ona shaft. withthe armed carpet roll or explosivenet thereby fore ingia'ir" fromthetubes and; .by forcing: air or gas into thetubes by, thepneumaticiblower or exhaust ofifconsidtarable length": in'lsproportionto its width 4 51 carpetfrdl'lftorpedb'iiiclliditig longitudinallyand.

and: having longitudinal and transverse strands of explosive materialsuch-asprimacord fiise sewn" thereto orwvoven therein. The-j explosivecarryingzcarpetistrip maybe-provi'ddWith transversely" tr'anverselyextending strands of I explosive materialan'dflshowing the tubesinflatedby, a pneumatic"; blower; f Fig. 2"is' an. enlarged viewthereof. with. theextending: plzi'cket's at suitably spaced intervals--50 pneumaticblowerremoved from the tubes;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section of a modified form of thecarpet roll torpedo;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section of the explosive torpedo inthe form of an explosive primacord net including longitudinallyextending strands of primacord and opposed sinuous or serpentine strandsof primacord connected therebetween; and

Fig. is a modified form of explosive primacord net torpedo with thesinuous or serpentine strands of primacord arranged parallel to oneanother.

Referring more specifically to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, Idesignates a strip or sheet of any suitable fabric such as carpet, whichis of considerable length in proportion to its width and hav ing thereonsuitably spaced longitudinally extending parallel strands 2 and spacedtransversely extending parallel strands 3 of any suitable explosivematerial such as primacord fuse.

being connected together and sewn 'at I to the strip of fabric, but maybe woven therein or Welded into the fabric by the thermo-plastic bondingmethod, if desired. The strands of.

primacord have cores of any suitable explosive material such asPETN(pentaerythritetetranitrate). The explosive carrying fabric torpedomay take the form illustrated inFig. 3 Where transversely extendingpockets 4 are secured to the fabric strip I in suitably spaced relation,said pockets 4 being adapted to contain cartridges 5 containing anysuitable explosive material such as amatol, (sixty per cent (60%),ammonium nitrate and forty per cent (40%) T. N. T.). In this form thelongitudinal primacord strands 2 arelacedthrough flaps 6 along thelongitudinal edges of the. fabric and each of the pockets 4 are providedwith transversely extending cross strands 3- of primacord. The ends ofthe strands 3. are knotted to respective strands 2 and the free ends ofthe strands 3' then passed back into their pockets 4. After thecartridges 5 are inserted into the pockets 4, the ends 8 of the pocketsare sewn closed by hand. The cartridges 5 could be taped to thetransversely extending primacord strands 3' before being inserted intothe pockets,

after which the ends of the pockets could be" closed by a staplingmachine, if desired.

In order to eliminate the sewing of the strands of explosive material tothe strip of fabric and. also eliminate the use of the fabric entirely,the

improved mine destroying torpedo may be made in the formof a net 9 ofexplosive material as illustrated in Fig. 4, wherein flexible strands ofprimacord are provided including spaced parallel longitudinallyextending strands I0 and sinuous or serpentine strands II interposedbetween the strands III. In this form of explosive net 9, the sinuousstrands II are connected first at points I2 to the strands I0 and thenpass over to adjacent strands Ifl where they are connected thereto atcommon points 'I 3. A mesh is thus provided by the sinuous strands IIarranged in opposed relation to one another and the strands I0positioned between each opposed pair of strands II.

' The mine destroying torpedo is preferably made in the modified form ofnet I4 illustrated in Fig. 5, wherein the sinuous or serpentine strands,I I of primacord are interposed between the longitudinally extendingprimacord strands III and are also parallel to each other. This designispreferable to the charged net 9 shown in' Fig. 4 as it gives betterexplosive distribution, due to the The I strands of primacord 2 and 3are illustrated as for detonating the same.

carpet or explosive net may then be detonated 4 primacord being 'moreevenly distributed over a given area.

The strip I of armed fabric illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 or the nets9 and I4 of explosive material illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 are rolledup on a shaft I5 and may either be launched by hand or pneumatically forunrolling the torpedo over a mined area. In launching the armed carpet Ior explosive nets 9 and I4 by hand, long ropes (not shown) are attachedto the ends of the shaft I5 on which the torpedo is rolled and, bypulling on the ropes and detouring the mined area; the rolled torpedomay be placed over a mined surface of roads and the like, withoutdanger. Upon firing the armed carpet I or explosive nets 9 and I4 thetorpedo is exploded, with the resulting detonating waves discharging themines contained in the area.

In launching the explosive nets over a mine field inflatable tubesconnected to any suitable source of air or gas pressure are providedthereon. "Thus to launch the armed carpet roll or explosive net torpedopneumatically over a mine field, longitudinally extending flexibleairtight vent tubes I5 are positioned on top thereof and the carpet ornet is rolled up along with the vent tubes on the shaft I5 asillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. The tubes I6 are permanently closed at oneof their ends and connected at their other ends to any suitable sourceof air supply such as the pneumatic blowerI'Lalthough the tubes I5 maybeconnected with an exhaust pipe of an engine or bottle containing gasunder pressure (not shown) for inflation purposes. The tubes I6 uponbeing wrapped up on the shaft I5 with the armed carpet roll I orexplosive nets 9 and I4, are deflated and, by forcing air or other gasinto the tubes, the armed carpet or explosive nets are caused to unroll,thus causing the rolled torpedo.

to assume an extended position over a mined field as described by anysuitable means.

It will thus be seen that there is herein provided a novel and efficientform of torpedo which is well adapted for the purpose intended. Eventhough there has herein been shown and de-.

scribed the invention as comprising certain features of construction andoperation of parts, it is nevertheless to be understood that variouschanges may be made therein, if the changes do ible strip of materialincluding pockets, explosive elements secured to said material,cartridges mounted in said pockets, pneumatic tubes positioned on saidstrip of materiaL said strip with said explosive elements, cartridgesand tubes adapted to becoiled into a roll, and means connected toinflate saidtubes for unrolling said strip including said explosiveelements and cartridges over a mine field.

3. A mine destroying torpedo comprising a flex- I ible net of explosivematerial, flexible tubes mounted on said net, said net including saidtubes The extended armed adapted to becoiled into a, roll, and means.connected to inflate said tubes for unrolling said net of explosivematerial over a mine field.

JAMES L. BISCH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,406,954 Peoples Feb. 11, 19222,367,206 Davis Jan. 16, 1945 2,374,261

Ames Apr. 24, 1945 OTHER REFERENCES Popular Science, February 1944, page119.

